In the Beginning
by Sebe
Summary: Sam has always left an imprint on every life he touches. No matter how his face and name may change, that remains the same. AU for past lives.
1. World Watchers

Author's Notes: Kay, so I don't usually do something so AU, but it was a nagging idea. This will (hopefully) be a series of stories about Team Free Will +Gabriel. The back story is that Gabirel and the first incarnation of Sam's soul, another angel named Ezrael, were once friends. Ezrael was saved by a human she came to regard as her brother. Give it a chance. Any ideas on how to construct such an AU idea would be welcome. Also, any questions, please feel free to ask. I have this whole back story in my head, but I don't know how well it's coming across.

Story Notes: This chapter- Gabriel and Ezrael before the fighting, before the fall, just existing.

Summary: Gabriel watches the world with his young charge, though they see different things.

**In the Beginning- World Watchers**

"Gabriel, can we stay? Just for a while?"

Gabriel smiled indulgently at the fledgling.

"You know we can't be hanging around here. Why do you like this place so much anyway?" Gabriel wrinkled his nose a bit. He didn't harbor any ill feelings for the humans, but he didn't exactly care for them either and he certainly didn't see what Ezrael saw in them.

"Because…" Ezrael seemed to search for the words and Gabriel thought it a trick of the light to see her eyes shimmer. "Because they _feel_."

The archangel said nothing and the two were silent for some minutes, watching the sky, their home, from below rather than above. Gabriel looked at Ezrael and knew that whatever she saw when she looked upon the sky was different than what he saw. Finally, soft words broke the reverie.

"Gabriel, why do the others…why do they hate the humans?"

The elder sighed. Man, he wasn't cut out for this…

"They don't hate humans, Ez. You know that. It would be blasphemy." He was trying not to lie to her. She was the only one who ever made him feel bad about a deception. "They…dislike the humans because of what they've seen them do. How imperfect they are."

"But that's why I like them." Ezrael wasn't looking at him, but straight ahead, to the human settlement below the cliff they sat on. "They do terrible things, I know…but so do we, right?" She looked up at Gabriel so earnestly, like she was expecting an answer and Gabriel, for once, was struck silent. "But they do really good things as well. Truly beautiful things that we would never think of…"

Ezrael trailed off and quiet settled again. Gabriel sighed.

"You're way too young for these deep philosophical thoughts, Ez."

And then she was all little sister. All the younger child balking at her older brother.

"I'm over seven hundred, Gabriel." She huffed.

"Yeah, like I said." He ruffled her hair as he had seen human siblings do. "You're a baby. Go ahead and say 'nu-uh' so the package will be complete."

She looked at him in a way that, if he could see who they would become in the future, Gabriel would have identified as her 'bitch-face'.

All the destiny and in-fighting that would put his little sister, this innocent light, at the heart of a battle for the survival of the planet; would take her far out of his reach and place her where she belonged, side by side with her human brother. And Gabriel would be relegated to the sidelines, by his own will and her urgings, watching his family fall apart, kill one another. His archangel brethren fighting for the soul of his charge…

"C'mon, let's go home before they send someone after us."

He didn't feel like dealing with Raphael today. That guy was always in a bad mood.

"Just a little longer, Gabe?"

Gabriel sighed and flopped onto his back next to Ezrael.

"Only a bit."

Ezrael smiled at him and Gabriel felt his own lips twitch upwards against his will. They were different. Gabriel, Ezrael, Lucifer especially. They felt, much like the humans did. And this would mark them all for pain, for sadness and despair and a likely cruel end…

But for now they were just two siblings gazing at the stars with the world spread out before them.


	2. Well Met

Author's Notes: Ezrael tried to stop the fighting between Lucifer and Michael, but was literally (and accidentally) struck down to earth by Micheal, enraging Lucifer who was always fond of her. Hurt, she came to on Earth staring into a human's green eyes.

AN 2: Also, Ezrael was written female when in angelic form just because that's how it came off. Here, she's fallen to earth and unconsciously created a new male body since it really doesn't matter to a being who's used to their being no distinction among her race. And a new body means a new name.

Summary: Dean catches their new, nameless house guest trying to sneak away in the night. Something inside tells him not to let go. AU- past lives.

**In the Beginning- part 2 (Well Met)**

In the night, when the house was supposed to be sleeping, Dean felt a nagging tug at his heart, something urging him. Unable to ignore it, the boy got up to investigate. Nothing was out of place, nothing disturbed-

-and that was kind of the point when one was sneaking out, wasn't it?

Green eyes watched for a few moments in amusement as their new guest, new _injured_ guest, carefully maneuvered around tables and shuffled silently on dusty floors. Amusement turned to concern as the boy faltered and clung to the outer wall of the house for support.

Dean restrained himself from rushing over to the other young man, knowing from what he had seen and his mother's reports that the stranger was rather jumpy. Instead, he waited a bit more until the kid had slipped out and closed the door quietly behind him. He waited until the other apparently thought he was home free before scaring the living shit out of him.

"Going somewhere?"

In his 12 years of life, Dean had never seen someone jump like that. After the initial start and Dean holding his hands up to show he meant no harm, the alarm in the other's hazel eyes settled into that deep, too-knowing look that Dean had come to associate with the boy.

"I'm grateful for all that you and your family have done for me the past few days, but I have to go home now."

Dean pushed off the wall and walked closer to the other, standing a few inches taller than the escapee. He shook his head and sighed.

"You're way too weak to be going anywhere. And why are you so anxious to get home anyway? Mom said you muttered something about your brothers being the ones that hurt you."

Kid, as Dean had taken to calling the nameless one, turned his eyes down. He looked like a kicked puppy and Dean groaned.

"Look, I'm not saying anyth-"

"He didn't mean to."

Dean stopped. This was promising. In the last three days, aside from fevered murmurings, Kid hadn't mentioned anything about himself, let alone how he had gotten so badly hurt and alone in the dessert.

Kid slid down the wall and sat on the hard-packed ground, his legs splayed out like he wasn't sure how to work them.

"I can't explain all that well, but…they were fighting. I had to stop them. They're my brothers. I couldn't just let them…" Kid turned his eyes up toward the diamond-decked sky, sounding like he was talking to himself. "They were _really_ going to fight…"

Dean sat down and prompted him, "And..?"

It took a second, but Kid responded.

"And I rushed in the middle and Michael struck me down." He looked down once more. "They will fight even more now."

And really, what's a twelve year old supposed to say to that? But Dean tried anyway.

"Okay…okay. I don't know what really happened or anything, and I get the feeling you're not going to tell me the whole story." Kid slid apologetic eyes to his and he quickly continued. "But what I know is that I found you half-dead out in the dessert and you were so out of your head you were speaking gibberish."

Kid looked alarmed.

"What did I say?"

Dean smirked.

"You muttered a lot, words I didn't understand. Called me 'human'. Really odd things. Kinda funny in retrospect. But the point is that your injuries are too bad to be going anywhere and…" Dean hesitated, he was never good with serious stuff. "And I get the feeling that you don't really want to leave…maybe you just feel like you have to?"

Kid looked at him and Dean felt this spark, this possessiveness for this boy he'd only just met. Felt the need to protect him. Dean didn't really know what to do with that and Kid just continued on staring at him like he was a revelation. Eventually, the older broke the silence.

"Look, I'll make you a deal. Just stay here until you're better. More steady on your feet. Then I'll help you find your way home."

Hazel eyes blinked and slowly, Kid smiled. Not like a child, but like something sage and old.

"Alright."

"Good." Dean nodded to himself and rose, bending to hoist one of Kid's skinny arms around his shoulders. He began moving them back towards to bedroom.

"Hey, if you're gonna stick around for awhile, you gotta tell me what to call you."

"Ez-" He stopped and Dean felt the body next to him tense. He quickly supplied an out.

"You can make something up if you want."

Minutes passed in silence as Dean helped the still nameless child back to his room and sat him on the edge of the bed. He went about checking the wounds his mother had just finished fixing when a voice spoke softly above him.

"I wouldn't know what to pick. You can, if you want."

Dean looked up and caught the other's eye.

He knew his name.

"Sam." He smiled as his lips formed around the sounds. "I'll call you Sammy, okay?"

"Sam…" Sam looked away for a moment, to the window and out into the sky. He chewed on his bottom lip and then seemed to decide something. Nodding, his mouth curling into a smile, he turned back to Dean.

"Sam." The boy in front of him seemed to have shifted somehow. Like the name was as important as breathing, like it was the beginning of something…

Like it was the start of a new life.


	3. Who We Were

Author's Notes: Sam remembers when he was Ezrael and Gabriel remembers the pain of losing her. Sam goes off to try and end this war and Gabriel has to make a choice once again, but this time, he's not alone. Post 5x22 with Gabriel alive.

Summary: One big brother that can't let go and another that won't make the mistake of letting go again.

**In the Beginning- part 3 (Who We Were)**

Gabriel reached out and grabbed Sam's wrist.

"Sam-"

"Gabriel." Sam didn't turn around, didn't try to escape the angel's hold. "Please tell me you remember me well enough to know not to try and stop me."

Gabriel felt his heart speed up, something like dread clawing up his insides.

"You'll- No, not for them. You can't. I won't let you-"

"Gabe."

Sam turned and smiled at Gabriel. Not the way Sam smiled, but the way _she_ smiled up at him lifetimes ago. And Gabriel knew he had lost.

His grip on Sam's arm slackened and fell away, his protests falling silent. He looked on with eyes that spoke of old heartbreak made new.

"Ez…"

Sam's smile softened.

"Take care of my brother for me."

Sam turned away and Gabriel knew that would be the last time he saw those eyes.

The human walked away and the angel let him go. To save the humanity that she had loved; the pieces of humanity that Sam, after everything, still loved.

Gabriel remained unmoving as Dean and Castiel finally caught up. They were bloody and panting, but looked mostly whole. Something that the look in Dean's eyes promised Gabriel that he wouldn't be in a few minutes as he took in Sam's absence.

"You let him go? So what, after all that you're just gonna let Sam die?" Dean was enraged, blinded by fear and desperation as he yelled at the angel's back. "All that crap about knowing him and being sorry for what you did, that was just a bunch of words! What the hell are you-"

Dean found himself pinned to the wall by a furious archangel. He knew he should be scared of the power Gabriel held, but he was only shocked by the tears in the celestial being's eyes.

"He may be your little brother." Gabriel ground out "But she was _my_ little sister."

Castiel's eyes looked sad and he gazed at the ground.

After a few tense moments, Gabriel relented and Dean's feet touched the floor again.

Before Dean could say anything, Castiel cut in.

"Gabriel was the angel assigned to Ezrael." He somberly told him. "He raised her from a fledgeling."

Gabriel turned to Dean, something like pity, or worse, like empathy in his eyes.

"I've let her go." His voice wavered, but didn't break. "Now you have to let Sam go."

And if it had been a movie, that's where it would end. With one older brother learning from another's mistakes. Choosing to sacrifice one soul he loved for the good of all life on Earth.

But their lives had never been a movie. A crappy, underground book series maybe, but not a movie.

"Bullshit." Dean leaned down and grabbed his bag, started arming up. Gabriel and Castiel watched, pitying and curious respectively. "Maybe that's how you let it play out, but that's not gonna happen here." Dean checked the rounds in the Colt and tucked it into his waistband.

"I let Sam go once to save the world, I'm not doing it again. I'm not saying we're gonna win and I'm not saying that I don't want to save the world, but if Sam going back to hell, or being obliterated, or whatever this little trick is gonna do to him is the price to save humanity," Dean tucked the last knife into the holster on his hip and looked up at the two heavenly siblings. "Humanity can kiss our collective Winchester asses."

He began to walk off after his brother. Gabriel and Castiel looked at one another and the latter called out.

"Dean-"

Dean didn't stop or turn around, but they heard him anyway. His voice was solid, sure, commanding.

"We've done enough. We've given too much not to be together in the end."

Dean Winchester walked off, following his sibling's footsteps.

Castiel clenched his teeth, exchanged another look with Gabriel. He nodded to the archangel and followed the Winchesters.

Gabriel stood there for long minutes. At once shocked and not surprised at all. Maybe they could get it right this time. Even if 'right' meant a gruesome death, all that seemed to matter to the Winchesters was that they were there to see it through together.

Just like he should have with Ezrael.

His eyes turned to the night sky and Gabriel remembered many nights sitting with Ezrael; him looking down on humanity, her gazing up to the stars. Other angels thought she was looking toward home, toward heaven when she did that, but Gabriel knew she was looking past it, to the future, to what humanity could be.

The archangel huffed out a laugh and shook his head. He took a deep breath and walked in the direction the other three had gone. Ezrael's smile along with Sam's both at the forefront of his thoughts.

He had done as she requested before and run, but not now. Now, Gabriel was going to follow his brothers, all three of them; because yes, even the obnoxious martyr-complex with legs that now stood in his place as the older brother had grown on him.

Gabriel grinned.

'It took me lifetimes, sister, but I think this time, I'm gonna get it right.'


End file.
